Man Shot by Police after Pointing Gun at Them

when will there be more information about the circumstances? The man, Todd Hainsworth, is my uncle but i feel awkward asking my family for details.

If you really want to kill yourself call the cops and they will do it for you. This is stupid the cops need their guns taken away.

I loved todd, Always will he will be remembered in the light that he was a very fun, loving, Honest, Caring man... We give our prayers to him and his family..

It is a very sad situation. I hurt for you guys! I feel like a bit of a bad cousin/niece, moving out of the county, and not keeping in touch, except through the possibly-exaggerated grape vine. I wish there was something I could do to help you guys, but it seems like anything I could do would come off as a bit asinine, and too little too late. If there is anything I can do, I'm only a phone call away. I love you guys.

Amanda wrote:

If you really want to kill yourself call the cops and they will do it for you. This is stupid the cops need their guns taken away.

If somebody had just rammed you with their truck, and then pointed a gun at you, a gun that you have every reason to believe is loaded, and you had the means to protect yourself, wouldn't you? Would it have been better if they had disarmed or disabled him rather than kill him? Yes! But can you really blame them?

This unfortunate man was in the beginnings of a divorce, and has a bit of a history of being a drama queen. I for one could never tell if he was serious or not. For a short while he had a job at the prison, or some such thing- I mainly remember his undercover cop car- and probably knew procedure very well (and yes, I'm speculating here). He was out in the middle of no where, where nobody else was really likely to get hurt. Seems to me like this was thought out, at least a little bit, before hand.

Cop's sure are good at making them selfs look like the heros, but that is not the case. I just hope and pray the investergaters get it right. Poor cops get a few days off and I lose my uncle. What is fair about that? Plus when they look into his back ground they will relize they killed a fellow officer!

unidentified female wrote:

<quoted text>
If somebody had just rammed you with their truck, and then pointed a gun at you, a gun that you have every reason to believe is loaded, and you had the means to protect yourself, wouldn't you? Would it have been better if they had disarmed or disabled him rather than kill him? Yes! But can you really blame them?
This unfortunate man was in the beginnings of a divorce, and has a bit of a history of being a drama queen. I for one could never tell if he was serious or not. For a short while he had a job at the prison, or some such thing- I mainly remember his undercover cop car- and probably knew procedure very well (and yes, I'm speculating here). He was out in the middle of no where, where nobody else was really likely to get hurt. Seems to me like this was thought out, at least a little bit, before hand.

How do you know he rammed the cops? Were you there? Is it hard to think the cops rammed him? As for protecting yourself, as a civilian yes, but as a cop no! What do they learn when becoming a cop? Not to just shoot to kill and maybe they were trying to disarm him as they rammed his truck. Also you have no right in speaking about his personal life and what he did or the cops did that day, because I will put money on it that you were not there and there is no way you could have been a friend of his because you obviously don't know his sense of humor. Out in the middle of nowhere? What? If you have ever been to Utah County then you know where Utah Lake is, it is not hard to find. I honestly believe you owe an apology to this family. To even suggest this was planned is out of this world and you should be ashamed of yourself!!!

MY-UNCLE wrote:

<quoted text>How do you know he rammed the cops? Were you there? Is it hard to think the cops rammed him? As for protecting yourself, as a civilian yes, but as a cop no! What do they learn when becoming a cop? Not to just shoot to kill and maybe they were trying to disarm him as they rammed his truck. Also you have no right in speaking about his personal life and what he did or the cops did that day, because I will put money on it that you were not there and there is no way you could have been a friend of his because you obviously don't know his sense of humor. Out in the middle of nowhere? What? If you have ever been to Utah County then you know where Utah Lake is, it is not hard to find. I honestly believe you owe an apology to this family. To even suggest this was planned is out of this world and you should be ashamed of yourself!!!

Of course I wasn't there. It's in my post that this was speculation. And although Utah Lake is centrally located, and easily found, it's not exactly a well populated area, the stench tends to keep people away.
Like you said, he was once a fellow officer. He knew procedure. He left the cell phone connection open. Do you really think he thought they wouldn't find him? He may not have planned it ahead of time, but it seems to me like he knew what he was doing.
He happens to be my uncle as well, and I've always thought that even though he was funny sometimes, his sense of humor was crass. It mainly consisted of making fun of everyone and everything. Whenever he had a headache, which was always, he took it out on every one else, especially his family. What, just because he dies I'm supposed to act like he was a saint? Ha! Call me callous, call me cold, call me undeserving of the title "niece". Go right ahead. The only reason that I feel bad about his death is the effect it is having on his immediate family. I hope that they can grieve and eventually move on, and not have his stupid act affect them for the rest of their lives. Honestly, that is probably why I am reacting so coldly. Sure, death ended it for him, but it will hurt his children for the rest of their lives.

come on you guys. This is not the place to be discussing this. Please be considerate of his kids and wife and keep this in the family.

If it wasn't suicide by cop, then it was stupidity. Either way, what little respect I had for the man has evaporated. Once you have children they are what should always be first on your mind, and when he pointed his gun at HIS fellow officer, he was only thinking of himself.

Sorry, Another Uncle, you're right. I shouldn't be venting my misplaced anger in a public forum. I suppose anonymity brought out the argumentitive beast in me. I'm just so angry that he's dead!

Todd was a selfish jerk, and he proved it by the way he left this world.

Condolences to his children.

wow that guy is crazy

First I want to say that my heart goes out to this man's family. I'm sure they're suffering enough.

That being said, there are more victims to be included than this man's family. How about the police officers and their families? Not only do these men have to relive the horrendous events that took place; they're going to be reminded of this devastating incident for the rest of their lives. So not only does this take a toll on the police officers involved, it effects their families.

And for this man to be a law officer himself, that surely shows that there's more than meets the eye. There are many reasons why people do what they do but I guarantee you that this man knew exactly what he was doing.

As someone pointed out earlier, he left the phone on during the 911 dispatch call. The dispatch heard shots going off. Of course police are going to be on their way, especially since they're not aware if he's a danger to innocent civilians. And once police arrive at the location, this man takes it upon himself to ram a cop car. That's an offense right there -- assault with a deadly weapon (vehicle). Then he gets out of his vehicle and points a deadly weapon at cops. Of course they're going to shoot.

This man is not only selfish for hurting his loved ones, he's also extremely selfish for making other innocent people get involved. Cops, military, etc. have an extremely difficult time after wars and death. This man is truly a coward. He has affected many.

I also wanted to point out that one reason this man might've got the law involved was to have life insurance pay out to his family. You see, if he was to commit suicide on his own, there wouldn't have been any money.